Automatic closure for garbage-cans.



l. G. MARKS.

AUTOMATIC CLOSURE FOR GARBAGE CANS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22. 1914.

47 Patented June 22, 1915.

/ AT I illllillllillilihih THE NORRIS PETERS COnPHOTC LITHO WASHINGTON.D. c.

I ISAAC GUSTAVE MARKS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

AUTOMATIC CLOSURE FOR GARBAGE-CANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1915.

Application fi1ed September 22, 1914. Serial No. 862,951.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IsAAo GUSTAVE MARKS, a citizen of the United States,residing at New ()rleans, in the parish of Orleans and State ofLouisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Closures for Garbage-Cans; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to garbage cans and has for its object to providean automatic closure for said cans, which will be more etiicient inaction, simpler in construction and less expensive to manufacture thanthose heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel details of construction and combinations of parts more fullyhereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification in which like numerals designate like parts in all theviews :Figure 1 is an elevational view partly in section of a garbagecan and closure made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is anelevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, but looking in thedirection at right angles to that in which Fig. 1 is seen; Fig. 3 is aView similar to Fig. 1, but showing the closure removed from the can andready to be automatically replaced thereon; and Fig. 4 is a sectionalView taken on the line 1% of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of thearrows.

1 indicates the body of the can which may be of any suitable dimensionsand construction, 2 a cover therefor, preferably provided with theflared extension 3, and handle 4, while 5 indicates a pair of pivotedsup ports for said cover pivoted as at 6 to the body 1 of the can, andprovided with the slots 7, through which pass the pins 8, or otherconnections to the cover. The said supports 5 are each provided withdownwardly projecting extensions 10 to which is secured as at 11 theweighted member 12, adapted to partially encircle the can, and theweight 13 thereof adapted to project v up over the top edge thereof whenthe cover is removed as will be clear from Fig. 3.

It will be observed that the weight 13 being pivoted at 6, and the partsbeing dimensioned. approximately as illustrated, the

cover will not permit the weight to occupy a posit-ion vertically overthe pivots 6, so that said weight in all positions exerts a tendency tomove the cover toward the right as seen in Fig. 3, but when it hasreached the position shown in Fig. 1, any further downward movement ofthe weight will cause it to either strike the support on which the coverrests, or else to strike the lower edge of the can; in either of whichcases its further downward movement will be arrested and the flaringextension 3 of the can will prevent the can from being uncovered.

The operation of my invention will be clear from the foregoing, but maybe briefly summarized as follows :ll hen it is desired to open the canthe operator grasps the handle 4 and lifts the cover 2 vertically, whichcauses the pins 8 to move from near the bottoms of the slots 7 to nearthe tops thereof and enables the vertical flange por tion 15 of thecover to disengage the vertical wall of the can and thereby to becomeunlocked, so to speak, from said vertical wall, as will be clear fromthe full and dotted line positions shown in 1. The cover having beenthus raised to its dotted line position indicated, the operator nextmoves the same toward the left, as shown in Fig. 1 and to the full lineposition as seen in Fig. 3, whereupon the weight 13 is lifted from theposition shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 3, and acts atthe end of the levers formed by the extensions 10 to automaticallyreturn said cover to its closing position. During the return movement,the flared extension 3 assists in seating the cover on the can andcausing the vertical flange portion 15 to surround the wall of the can,while gravity causes the pins to resume their former position near thebottoms of the slots 7.

It will thus be seen that it is practically impossible to leave thisgarbage can uncovered unless the cover :2 is intentionally preventedfrom returning to its closed position. When such is the intentionhowever, said cover is easily locked in its full line position shown inFig. 3, by simply placing a support or stick or other article under theweight 13, or between said weight and the top rim of the can body 1, orotherwise supporting said weight.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the arrangement of" parts without departing fromthe spirit of my invention and therefore I do not wish to be limited tothe above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is 5 1. In a garbage can the combination of a closure; apair of pivoted supports provided with slots for said closure;connections car ried by said closure adapted to traverse said slots; anda counter Weight connected to said supports adapted to automaticallyreturn said closure when removed from its closing position,substantially as described.

2. In a garbage can the combination of a closure provided with a flaredextension; a pivoted support for said closure provided With a slot andpin connection; and a counter weight for automatically returning saidclosure when displaced rigid with said support, the parts being sodimensioned that said Weight is adapted to be raised to near the topedge of the can when the cover is moved to its extreme open position andto be lowered to near the bottom edge of the can when the cover is inits closed position, substantially as described.

3. In a garbage can the combination of a cover havlng a vertical memberadapted to surround the top portion of the wall of the can and having aflared member extending sioned that said weight will in all positionstend to return said cover to its closing position, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC GUSTAVE MAR-KS. 'Witnesses:

J ULES E. ANNARD, R0131. C. PFLUEGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

